Perspective, purpose, pride from a trip to Spain

When Hannah Gold, a student at Long Island’s Adelphi University, boarded a plane to Spain earlier this month, she wasn’t just going on a trip — she was stepping into a story that once tried to erase people like her.

More than 500 years after Spain expelled its Jews during the Inquisition, Hannah joined over 100 Jewish students from across North America to walk the same streets where Jewish life once thrived and was violently silenced. But this time, they walked proudly.

They sang Hebrew songs. They lit Shabbat candles in places where it had once been illegal to be Jewish. And for Hannah, a resident of the Five Towns, it was deeply personal.

“There was something powerful about showing up as a proud Jew in a place that once tried to erase us,” she said. “It felt like we were reclaiming something, not just from the past, but from what we’re going through now, too.”

Hannah is part of JewishU, a flagship program from Chabad on Campus International that rewards students for their Torah learning with immersive, meaningful travel experiences. She was inspired to join the program by Rabbi Yankel & Mushka Lipsker, who co-direct Chabad on Campus at Adelphi University.  Thanks to their efforts she was able to join the Platinum Trip to Spain, which was fully subsidized and offered only to students who had completed weeks of rigorous study.

But the reward wasn’t just a trip but a chance to anchor Jewish identity in lived experience. In Córdoba and Granada, the students explored the remnants of a golden age of Jewish scholarship and witnessed the traces of a community that had once helped shape the soul of Spain, before being driven out by violence, fear, and forced conversions.

Now, Jewish students are again facing hostility, not from kings or inquisitors, but from peers and professors on the campuses they call home.

With antisemitism rising at universities across the countrystudents like Hannah find themselves once again defending their right to simply be who they are.

“The parallels were hard to ignore,” Hannah said. “We were standing in the ruins of a world that was taken from us, and it felt like a warning — and a reminder. Jewish life doesn’t just survive on its own. It takes courage to keep it alive.”

For Hannah, that courage began before she ever left New York. When she learned about JewishU through a friend who had qualified for a previous trip, she realized there wasn’t yet a chapter on her campus. So she started one, making it possible for herself and her classmates to join the program and study together.

That initiative led her to Spain. And Spain gave her something in return: perspective, purpose, and pride.

At a time when Jewish students sometimes feel isolated or uncertain about expressing their identity, JewishU offers something different: strength through learning, connection through community, and pride rooted in thousands of years of resilience.

Alongside the powerful moments of reflection came joy and celebration. The group danced flamenco, toured palaces, and stayed up late talking about everything from Jewish philosophy to life back on campus.

But even the fun carried a deeper meaning: they weren’t just tourists — they were living proof that Jewish life continues.

“Lighting Shabbat candles in a country where it was once banned was very symbolic,” Hannah said.

Now back at Adelphi, Hannah is helping grow her campus chapter and encouraging others to join. For her, the message is clear.

“Being Jewish shouldn’t be something we hide,” she said. “Not in Spain. Not in New York. Not anywhere.”